6 November 1971
Tonks was impatient. She was waiting for Dumbledore to return with news or updates on her predicament, and it was already evening. She was itching to go back to her parents and spend time with them, but she feared they would be suspicious. Thus, she remained in her room, leafing through 1970s versions of Witch Weekly and wondering what in Merlin's name happened to make the fashion statements of the 70s so horrendous.
Tonks heard soft rap at the door followed by a small click. Albus Dumbledore and Alastor Moody entered the room. Moody sat back down in the chair opposite Tonks' bed and Dumbledore stood at the foot of the bed. It was still unnerving to see both of the men decades younger, and Moody considerably more whole than she remembered him.
"Miss Tonks, how are you feeling today?" Dumbledore asked.
"Well, considering the circumstances," Tonks answered. "I saw my parents last night."
Dumbledore's brow furrowed. "I see," he commented. "Did you tell them anything?"
"Of course not," Tonks retorted. "I just wanted to see them. I'd have spent all day with them if I could, but obviously that wouldn't help anyone, now would it?"
"Understandable, Miss Tonks," replied Dumbledore. "I would advise against seeing them again unless you plan on morphing to disguise yourself, and of course, not revealing anything you know about them."
"I figured as much," noted Tonks. "Time travel is finicky, but at least I didn't prevent my own birth."
"Right you are, Miss Tonks," mused Dumbledore. "Would you like to hear what I have gathered?"
"Yes, please," answered Tonks. She felt embarrassed for a moment, realizing how rude and tense she'd been at the Headmaster. "I'm sorry I've been so short with you, Professor," she apologized. "I hope you can forgive me."
"Apology accepted, my dear girl," assured Dumbledore. "You've been through quite an ordeal, and based on my research, I suspect the ordeal is far from over."
Tonks felt as if she'd been punched in the gut. So much for hoping for a quick return to her time.
"I have spoken with a few experts and several Unspeakables, Miss Tonks," began Dumbledore. "It appears that you made an impact with two types of time-turners. The first is what you think of as a typical time-turner – it takes you back in time for a certain length of time, usually hours or days. The second type of time-turner is more unique – it works with an individual witch or wizard's personal timeline. This second time-turner is connected to significant magical events. This might be a particularly strong incident with accidental magic, receiving one's first wand, or a magical bonding. This time-turner was created as an experiment in regenerating magic for the mortally wounded witch or wizard. It wasn't meant to encourage time travel itself, surprisingly, but instead to infuse the wounded witch or wizard with the surge of magic present at one of those significant moments. As it happens, you're the first witch for which the time-turner has worked."
Tonks' jaw dropped. "So it went back to my birth because I wasn't married, and receiving my wand must've not been a strong enough moment," she sputtered. "Since I'm a Metamorphmagus, this meant my birth, because I started showing magic right away with my changing hair colors."
"Girl learns quickly," growled Moody. "No wonder you became an Auror."
Tonks grinned at Moody, surprised again by his affection.
"Very true, Alastor," smiled Dumbledore. "However, Miss Tonks, I must inform you that the effect of the time-turners is unknowable. The Unspeakables believe that you will return to your former – or rather, future – self on the date which you came into contact with the time-turners."
"So I have to live the next 24 years…again?" asked Tonks. "How am I supposed to do that? Will I be 48 when I get back?" Tonks began to panic.
"We aren't certain," explained Dumbledore. "We have reason to believe that you may stay in stasis until that point, but we won't know for a few years yet if you've truly aged."
"How will anyone know that I've aged?" Tonks asked. "It's not like I'm a tree and you can count the rings."
Dumbledore chuckled at Tonks' snark. "Miss Tonks, we have a few spells we can try to determine your age," he explained. "When you arrived at St. Mungo's yesterday, the healers were able to determine your correct age at 24 years. As far as the present is concerned, you're a 24 year old witch."
"There's absolutely no way to send me back?" Tonks asked. "I'm stuck here? What if I ruin everything? What if I change time?"
Dumbledore looked pensive. "Either your presence has already been accounted for and what is to come is unavoidable, despite your best efforts, or you are setting up a timeline in which your past will not be your future," he pondered aloud. "Time travelers will typically change time in a way that is unchanged; they are their own catalysts for time travel, or they will change time in a way that does change their past-futures, with potentially disastrous consequences, such as preventing their own births, and they cease to exist."
"Thank Merlin I didn't do that," Tonks muttered. "So either everything I'm going to do has already eased the suffering of others, or creates an entirely new timeline in which some people might not exist?"
"Precisely, Miss Tonks," Dumbledore confirmed. "I'm afraid you won't know until you reach those points in history."
Tonks sat on the bed, deep in contemplation. What could she try to prevent? The prophecy was out of her hands; she had never known who had given it, nor who had overheard it. She hadn't known the circumstances in which it was given. That was out of the question. Harry might still lose his parents, despite her best efforts.
Could she save Sirius from twelve years in Azkaban? Could she prevent his imprisonment? It would require preventing Wormtail-then-Peter from becoming a Death Eater and turning over the Potters to Voldemort.
What of Remus? He spent over a decade in near-solitude, with itinerant werewolves as his only company between the loss of his friends and his post at Hogwarts. If she couldn't go back to her time, could she be with him in the present, until she returned? If that were the case – maybe they would have been together in 1996, prior to the time change. Unless something terribly wrong had occurred that separated them? The possibilities were torturing her.
If nothing else, she would work towards making the future better. A different future than the one she remembered, all while trying to bring back the ones who made it better – Harry and his friends. But how? How would she accomplish this?
"What do I do now? Can I go back to being an Auror?" Tonks demanded. "It's not like I have anything to live off now. I can help with the Order again!" Tonks exclaimed.
"Becoming an Auror is out of the question," Moody barked. "No way to verify your qualifications, no N.E.W.T exam scores. You'd have to do it all over again. I can pull a lot of strings with the Aurors' Office, but they'll thinking I'm barking mad for allowing someone with next to no qualifications enter the program."
Tonks frowned. "Can I help with the Order?" she inquired. "I may not be able to be a real Auror, but I was trained as one all the same."
Dumbledore paused for a moment, and Tonks felt as if he could see right through her with those twinkling blue eyes. "We can use your help, Miss Tonks," he opened. "Though I will need to know more about your time and experience to determine how you can assist us." Dumbledore turned to Moody and gave him a knowing look. Moody grunted and shuffled back out of the room.
"Alastor and I agreed that it would be best if only I knew the knowledge you have, Miss Tonks," commented Dumbledore, upon seeing Tonks' confused expression. "Especially if it means we can defeat Voldemort before your time. I admit I was very concerned to hear that Death Eaters remain active two decades from now."
"There was a period of inactivity for a while," explained Tonks. "I can tell you everything I know, but unfortunately it's not as much as I wish I knew. If I can help, I want to prevent some of the suffering that happens in the future. I was only around for the second iteration of the Order."
"There was a second iteration?" asked Dumbledore. "Understandable, if there was a period of inactivity," he observed. "Was there much suffering between now and then?" he inquired.
"Too much suffering, Professor," lamented Tonks. Sirius, Harry, and Remus all came to mind. Sirius' imprisonment, both at Azkaban and then at Grimmauld Place. Harry becoming an orphan. Remus losing everyone he loved in just days.
"Voldemort had not been defeated in your time?" Dumbledore asked. His expression grew grave.
"Not exactly, Professor," Tonks replied, absentmindedly playing with the hem of her hospital gown again. "No one really understands what happened, except maybe you."
"Why don't you start at the beginning of what you know?" invited Dumbledore.
"A lot of this involves people who aren't even alive yet," Tonks warned. "I hope that me telling you won't prevent their births. I would really hate to meddle with that."
"I understand, Miss Tonks," countered Dumbledore. "Though your very presence in this hospital may have already upset what was supposed to be. We will endeavor to bring about the happy events of those you have in mind, but know that it will not be your fault if things turn out differently. It may be prudent for you to omit specific names, as an added precaution."
Tonks felt a little assurance at the Headmaster's words, and hesitated before she began speaking.
"I can't tell you much about Voldemort before the late 70s, sir, as I was so young," opened Tonks. "I can tell you about what happened in 1981 and after, since that's what's most important, I think."
Dumbledore nodded in understanding, and gestured for Tonks to continue.
"Halloween, 1981, was Voldemort's sort-of downfall in my timeline," started Tonks. "There was a prophecy in my time we were trying to protect, and that's what led me to the Hall of Prophecies and Time-Turner Room to begin with. The prophecy had something to do with Voldemort's downfall, but you didn't give us specifics on that. You were the one who received the prophecy, but I don't think you got it till at least a year before. We just knew it had to be kept out of his hands under any condition possible."
"The prophecy involved a boy, a baby at the time. He was connected, sort of, to Voldemort," continued Tonks. "We weren't sure about how the connection worked, but we knew that Voldemort and the boy had some mental connection. Voldemort put a vision in the boy's mind to lure him to the Hall of Prophecies, which endangered the boy and the friends he took with him. They were teenagers, but there's no way they could've defended themselves against the trap of Death Eaters waiting for them." Tonks sighed and ran her hands through her hair, remembering the commotion from the battle that was now two days behind her.
"What led to Voldemort's 'sort-of' downfall, as you put it, Miss Tonks?" Dumbledore inquired.
"I'm really not sure, Professor," confessed Tonks. "We guessed the prophecy was the reason Voldemort went after the boy in the first place. Voldemort killed the boy's parents in order to get to him. The boy was just a year old. Voldemort tried to kill the baby with the Killing Curse, but it backfired." Tonks saw a curious expression rise in Dumbledore's eyes.
"I know, it's unbelievable," continued Tonks. "No one survives the Killing Curse, but the baby did. They called him the Boy-Who-Lived. More like Boy-Who-Barely-Escapes-Voldemort-Annually," Tonks snorted. Dumbledore's expression grew grave again.
"I didn't mean it that way, Professor," apologized Tonks. "Ever since the boy started at Hogwarts when he was 11, the craziest things happened to him. Everyone thought he had killed Voldemort when he was a baby, but when Ha-the boy – started at Hogwarts, Voldemort started to come back."
"How so, Miss Tonks?" questioned Dumbledore.
"In the boy's first year, Voldemort had somehow possessed a professor at Hogwarts," explained Tonks. Dumbledore's face grew pale. "Voldemort stayed alive by having the professor drink unicorn blood. He was after the Elixir of Life, which was being stored at the castle at the time."
"The boy and his friends – foolishly and bravely, mind you – went after a professor they thought was working with Voldemort, but they got it all wrong," Tonks continued. "But it turned out okay in the end. The boy managed to get the stone, but not before Voldemort fled and the professor was killed. There was something then about Voldemort not being able to touch the boy," Tonks said. "Something to do with his mum's sacrifice," Tonks mused.
"That was his first escape," Tonks continued. "The next year was even worse, if you can imagine it. It starts with the Chamber of Secrets." Dumbledore's brow furrowed in slight disbelief. "Really, Professor, it's very real," Tonks assured. "Only a Parselmouth or someone controlled by one can get into it. In the boy's second year at Hogwarts, Muggleborns started being petrified by the basilisk in the Chamber. Turned out that some Death Eater had slipped a girl a diary. The diary had a bit of Voldemort in it – really nasty Dark magic – and it managed to possess the girl. The girl ended up in the Chamber."
"Ha-the boy and his best friend went down to the Chamber to get the girl," elaborated Tonks. "The boy has a real knack for trouble," she chuckled. "The boy's friend got stuck near the entrance of the Chamber, but he was alright and unharmed. The boy faced Voldemort again in the Chamber. He'd possessed the girl so much that she was almost dead. Voldemort looked like a teenager, or so the boy said."
"Voldemort demanded that the basilisk go after the boy, but that kid had a lot of nerve," Tonks smiled. "He somehow got your phoenix, Fawkes, to bring him the Sorting Hat. He pulled out the sword of Godric Gryffindor and managed to kill the basilisk. He used a fang to destroy the diary, and Voldemort disappeared again."
"Just last year, Voldemort returned fully," Tonks said, sadly. "He managed to get the boy to some graveyard. Little Hangleton, I think. A bunch of Death Eaters were there, including a traitor from the Order." Dumbledore looked alarmed at the news. "I'll get to that next," promised Tonks.
"The boy saw Voldemort return using some Dark potion," explained Tonks. "The traitor took some of the boy's blood, some of Voldemort's father's bones, and the traitor's own hand in the ritual. Voldemort got his body back and could touch the boy again since Voldemort had the boy's mum's blood in his body."
"The boy managed to escape – some connection between their wands – and the boy got back to tell the tale," said Tonks. "The Ministry denied it," lamented Tonks. "That's when the Order regrouped and where I came in. I'm several years older than the boy so I was already an Auror when I joined up. The year I joined up, Voldemort was trying to get the prophecy, and it went to shit when Voldemort put that vision in Ha-the boy's mind."
Dumbledore was deep in thought. "Should I continue?" asked Tonks. "I need to tell you about the traitor. He's the one who got Voldemort to the boy in the first place."
Dumbledore nodded, a solemn expression on his face.
"Because you knew the prophecy, sir," Tonks explained, her voice now becoming hoarse, "there were actually two boys the prophecy could have applied to, so both families went into hiding. They used Fidelius Charms. The secret keeper for the chosen boy's family was a very, very close friend. At the last minute they changed the secret keeper, because they thought the very, very close friend would be targeted by Voldemort. They made the secret keeper a different friend who they thought was also close and could be trusted, but that friend was secretly a Death Eater. He'd been threatened by Voldemort and caved," Tonks spat. "He betrayed his best friends and they died."
"No one knew the secret keeper had changed, though, so the first friend was framed," Tonks lamented. "The traitor even killed a bunch of Muggles and pinned it on the first friend to make sure he could escape unharmed, the little shit." Tonks quelled her anger. "The first friend was imprisoned, unfairly, in Azkaban, for 12 years. He managed to escape, but the damage was done, and the real traitor never had to pay for his actions."
"That's the shortest way I could say it all, Professor," said Tonks. "Do you have any questions for me?"
"Too many questions, Miss Tonks," began Dumbledore, "but I will only ask what I find sufficient to find a place for you in the Order."
"I'm all ears," welcomed Tonks.
"The boy you speak of – he is not yet born?" asked Dumbledore.
"No, not till 1980."
"Are his parents in Britain?"
"Yes," mused Tonks. She thought for a moment about the year. "They would be first years at Hogwarts, sir. You'll know them all."
"All of them?"
"All of them, yeah," replied Tonks. "The boy's parents, the traitor, the original secret keeper…they're all first years."
Dumbledore looked pensive again. He stroked his beard with his fingers, gazing over Tonks' head into the distance.
"Which House were you sorted into, Miss Tonks?" Dumbledore asked.
"Hufflepuff," replied Tonks, proudly.
"Your parents were Slytherin and Ravenclaw, no?"
"Yeah, but the Sorting Hat said I'd be better off in Hufflepuff," said Tonks. "I think it had something to do with my admiration for Newt Scamander. Before I wanted to be an Auror, I wanted to be a Magizoologist. Once I learned so much of my family had supported Voldemort, I felt I didn't have a choice but to fight against Dark wizards. My mum was a Black and my dad was a Muggleborn, and I wanted to make them proud."
"You knew of Newt Scamander before you began at Hogwarts?"
"He was one of my heroes growing up," gushed Tonks. "He wrote my mum a letter when I was a baby with a bunch of advice about Metamorphmagi and enclosed a signed book for me to have when I grew up. It was one of my most prized possessions."
"Curious," murmured Dumbledore. "Very curious indeed."
"What's curious, Professor?" Tonks was unable to read the expression on the Headmaster's face. He was deep in thought, no doubt, but it was disconcerting to see him mulling things over so intensely.
"I believe I know where we can place you, Miss Tonks," said Dumbledore. "I'll need some time to arrange it. Your Healer mentioned that you'll be free to go tomorrow. Apparate to the Hog's Head in Hogsmeade. The innkeeper will have a room waiting for you. Expect an owl by the end of the week. Do try to enjoy yourself in Hogsmeade." Dumbledore smiled kindly at Tonks.
"I haven't any money, sir, or any additional clothes" countered Tonks. "How am I going to pay for this?"
"The innkeeper owes me a favor," said Dumbledore. "He'll make sure you have a place to stay and food to eat. I'll have the house elves send along extra garments for the week. As long as you stay within the village, you'll be safe. Be sure to morph accordingly, Miss Tonks."
"Of course, Headmaster," replied Tonks. "I'm really looking forward to the missions you'll have me on."
Dumbledore looked at Tonks, brow furrowed again. "Would you be opposed to an Unbreakable Vow, Miss Tonks?" asked Dumbledore. "To keep this information between us?"
"If you think it will help, then yes, sir," agreed Tonks.
"If the mission I have in mind is amenable, an Unbreakable Vow will prevent you from unintentionally revealing information through Legilimency," explained Dumbledore. "Your Occlumency skills, I can tell, are fairly strong, but if you come across Voldemort directly, he will break through your barriers, I'm afraid."
She would be seeing Voldemort in her mission? Actual, real, living Voldemort?!
"I understand, sir," Tonks said. "I agree to take the Vow."
Dumbledore conjured his Patronus and sent it off to find someone to administer the Vow to them. Unsurprisingly, Moody clunked back into the room.
"She agreed to the Vow, then?" Moody asked. "Knew she would." Tonks beamed with pride.
Moody administered the Unbreakable Vow to Dumbledore and Tonks, making it absolutely certain that she could not reveal any information to anyone other than Dumbledore regarding events of the future.
Dumbledore nodded at Tonks once the Vow was complete and swept out of the room with Moody, leaving Tonks deep in thought over the strange situation she was now subject to.
...
10 November 1971
It was late Friday morning and Tonks had yet to receive an owl from the Headmaster. She was growing anxious over her stay in Hogsmeade. While she didn't want to be ungrateful for the free lodging and food – even if it was at the same dusty, dingy Hog's Head she remembered from her own Hogwarts days – she felt anxious over the lack of communication.
She had ventured out the night before to explore the village again. Last night she'd allowed herself a good cry, alone and outside the Shrieking Shack. Seeing it brought memories of what had only been a few days before in her memory, but may as well have been a lifetime away.
They were keeping guard outside a known Death Eater's house, crouched together in the overgrown bushes. They were huddled together under an invisibility cloak, shoulders pressed against each other. The Death Eater had hosted various hooded figures in the last hour and was now alone.
"That's Dolohov, yeah?" asked Tonks.
"Definitely," answered Remus. "He may be thinner after the breakout, but it's him, alright."
"He looks like shit," mused Tonks. "It's been two months since the breakout. Shouldn't he have showered by now?"
Remus chuckled softly. "I think that showering is a low priority, after escaping a prison and rejoining Voldemort. I'm surprised he looks this decent after Azkaban. I expected him to be worse for wear."
"Sirius doesn't look so terrible," replied Tonks. "He's still handsome, isn't he, even after Azkaban?"
"I suppose you've fallen for him, then," said Remus, bitterly. "He always got the women." Tonks saw Remus' jaw clench, and she felt a surge of rage.
Angrily, she retorted, "You'd know perfectly well who I've fallen for, if you weren't too busy feeling sorry for yourself to notice."
"I don't understand," rushed Remus. Tonks saw his face flush, and he covered his face with his hands.
"Of course you don't," said Tonks, coldly. "Self-pity might be the only thing you understand."
Remus' mouth opened and closed in consternation. Tonks had never seen him speechless before. Her anger at his feigned ignorance was heavy to bear, and they still had several hours left on their watch over Dolohov's goings-on.
The next several minutes passed in tense silence as Tonks and Remus stared at Dolohov's home. Tonks breathed deeply and slowly to calm herself down.
Remus broke the silence. He whispered, "I'm sorry, Tonks."
"For what?" Tonks retorted.
"I've been a fool."
"Tell me something I don't know."
"I never thought you could feel that way," Remus hesitated, before continuing, "for me, as I am now." His hands were back on his face, and he looked down to the ground. Tonks thought he might have been trying to hide himself into oblivion.
"Figured it out, did you?" Tonks snapped. Remus flinched. His obvious embarrassment softened Tonks. She placed her hand on his shoulder, gently turning him to face her. "It's always been you, Remus," she said, gently. "It was never, and will never, be Sirius."
Remus lowered his hands from his face and stared at Tonks. She could see the flecks of gold in his hazel eyes. They were filled with fear and hope? Was it hope? Tonks wondered.
"You're so young, Tonks," Remus whispered. "I never thought you'd still want me." Remus' eyes filled with tears, much to Tonks' surprise. "I don't know what I ever did to deserve your affection," he said, crying softly.
Overcome with emotion, Tonks wrapped her arms around Remus' neck and pressed her lips against his. He was frozen for a moment before she felt him kissing her back, placing his hands on her waist. She ran her hands through his soft hair, her body exhilarated with desire for the man she'd been wanting for months.
A slammed door broke their kiss. Dolohov emerged from his home, clad in Death Eater robes and a mask. He stepped briskly out from the door to an apparition point. Tonks quickly disillusioned herself and cast a tracking spell on Dolohov. When he disappeared with a crack, Tonks beckoned Remus to join her in side-along apparition. When they apparated to Dolohov's tracked location, they found themselves near the visitor entrance to the Ministry of Magic. Tonks could see Dolohov disappear into the phone box.
Just then, several more cracks cut through the air as more Death Eaters swarmed into the phone box. Remus and Tonks looked at each other and each sent Patronuses to as many Order members as they could. With as many Death Eaters going into the Ministry as they saw, the two of them alone could not take them all on. They apparated to Headquarters and found the source of the invasion: Voldemort had placed a vision in Harry's mind that Sirius was taken hostage at the Ministry. Minutes later, Order members started arriving to the Ministry in order to rescue the teenagers.
They had kissed. She and Remus had finally kissed. He had finally shown her that he had feelings for her too, and the blasted Death Eaters had interrupted them. Now the time-turners had disrupted her entire life, and she was terrified she would never go back to Remus and his affections. The possibilities were cruel and endless.
The emotions were complicated further when considering whether her time-travel would even make the kiss possible; if she prevented Sirius' imprisonment and Remus' loneliness, was it possible that Remus would marry? What if they never had a chance to meet, because Remus will have built his own family by the time the just-born Nymphadora Tonks came to meet him, if she ever met him. What if the second iteration of the Order of the Phoenix was never necessary?
What if this Tonks, the time-traveler had been with Remus at the time they had kissed? Remus had never mentioned a relationship. Was it possible he knew of the time-travel and was merely waiting for the two Tonkses to come together? Was kissing the first Tonks cheating on the time-traveling Tonks? Or, had the time-traveling Tonks already had a relationship with Remus but it had been broken beyond repair? Was that why he had been so surprised when first Tonks held affections for him, because her time-traveling counterpart had parted with him?
Tonks spent the cold November evening crying in front of the Shrieking Shack, overwhelmed by the possibilities of a future with or without Remus. She had been harboring feelings for the Remus she knew for nearly a year; she was certain he returned her affections. Had all of that been for naught? Had time-traveling Tonks already ruined her chances with him, or had the time-traveler enabled the first Tonks to be with him? The thoughts were swirling that morning, as she awaited the Headmaster's letter.
A loud rap-rap-rap stopped Tonks' train of thought. A handsome tawny owl pecked enthusiastically against the grimy window in her room at the Hog's Head. Tonks excitedly opened the window to let the owl in, giving it a piece of the toast she'd been ignoring. She unfurled the letter to find Albus Dumbledore's neat script:
Dear Miss Tonks,
I apologize for the delay in communication. I have been arranging details needed for your current situation. We will be traveling this weekend to fulfill the first part of your mission. Please gather your belongings and meet me at my office at 3 o'clock this afternoon. Please be prompt, as our Portkey will leave at 3:13 PM. If you're considering your appearance, think "Black."
Sincerely,
Albus Dumbledore
P.S. I'm rather fond of "Sugar Quills."
Traveling by Portkey! Tonks was intrigued. Where were they going that apparition wasn't an option? Or the Floo? Tonks enthusiastically gathered all her belongings in the simple rucksack the house elves had gifted her upon her arrival to the Hog's Head. She was pleasantly surprised that the rucksack had the Hufflepuff crest embroidered onto it; little comforts warmed her heart.
It was now nearly noon and she had three hours to go before heading out to the Headmaster's office. Dumbledore's letter had recommended she look like a Black, her mother's family, or so she assumed. Her heart-shaped face remained the same. She morphed her eyes into the grey her mother and Sirius shared; her cheekbones became slightly more prominent. Finally, she let her hair cascade down in glossy black locks that reached the small of her back. When she looked at herself in the mirror, she looked very much like a female version of Sirius Black.
Tonks heard a knock at the door; it must be the innkeeper, "Ab," with her lunch. She quickly morphed back to the face and hair she'd been using for the past few days: a round face, expressive brown eyes, long dirty blonde hair, and freckles smattered across her nose. She had decided to mix her face to look like some of the teens she'd just tried to rescue from the Hall of Prophecies in her previous – former? – life.
Ab brought in a hearty stew and a loaf of bread for Tonks to eat. He included a large bar of chocolate for her, a first.
"Thank you, Ab," Tonks said. "For everything."
Ab grunted in return and went back downstairs. He was oddly familiar to her; it was as if Moody and Dumbledore had joined themselves together in the gruff barkeep, but she kept her thoughts to herself as she enjoyed a hearty stew and delicious chocolate that reminded her of Remus.
When she had finished with her lunch, Tonks threw on one of the robes the house elves had given her and pulled the hood up over her hair. She took one last look around the shabby room and went out towards the bar and out onto the streets of Hogsmeade. She shuffled into a small alleyway to morph back into her "Black" expression. On her way towards Hogwarts, she stopped briefly in front of a store window to check her morph. It was perfectly "Black," so she felt confident on her way back to the castle.
She came to the castle gates just before 3 PM. Filch was waiting for her and allowed her entry. Tonks went up to the castle and entered through its front doors. The sight of the castle filled her with warm nostalgia. Students were loitering in the entrance hall, likely looking forward to the weekend off classes. Some of the faces looked almost familiar, but she decided not to look too closely. She set off purposefully towards the Headmaster's office, avoiding the eyes of any student or professor on her way there.
Tonks reached the gargoyle and offered the password, "Sugar Quills," and let herself up to the Headmaster's office.
"Miss Tonks!" greeted Dumbledore. "So very glad you could join us."
Us? Wondered Tonks.
In the Headmaster's office sat an aristocratic-looking gentleman. He was finely dressed and sat straight in the chair, eyeing Tonks curiously. There was something distinctly familiar about him. Was it the eyes? Tonks wondered. They were a familiar grey too. His hair was peppered with grey streaks, but it was becoming on him. He was decidedly distinguished, however old he was.
"Miss Tonks, I would like to introduce you to your Great Uncle, Alphard Black."
Tonks' mouth fell open as she took in the man in front of her. Of course he was a Black! Alphard Black! Sirius' uncle who left him gold and was blasted off the family tree, like her mother!
"Mr. Black, it is truly a pleasure to meet you," Tonks said. "I've heard many wonderful things about you."
"Call me Uncle Al for now," Alphard replied. "We've yet to choose a name for you."
Tonks stared quizzically at him, and then back at Dumbledore. "I'm getting a new name?" she asked.
"Yes, Miss Tonks," replied Dumbledore. "We have much to explain, but we'll need to be going if we want to make it to our destination. Tonks' head was spinning. A new name and a new destination. Where in Merlin's name was he taking her?
Dumbledore produced a modest flower-pot and placed it on his desk. He beckoned Tonks and Alphard to join him, and within a few seconds, Tonks felt the pull at her navel that was distinctly tied to Portkey travel.
The trio landed in a bright, cobblestone alleyway. The sky was bright blue and a chilly fall breeze seeped into Tonks' bones. Tonks could hear voices outside the alleyway, but they didn't sound the way they should. Where were they?
Dumbledore led Tonks and Alphard out onto the street, and Tonks looked out towards a completely unfamiliar town. The town was charming, but everything felt grander and bigger than she was accustomed to. Everyone appeared to be in a hurry.
"Where are we?" asked Tonks.
Dumbledore smiled. "Boston, Miss Tonks."
America? Boston? What had possessed Dumbledore to take her traveling with an international Portkey?
"We're here to meet someone important, Miss Tonks," continued Dumbledore. "Follow me, if you please."
Alphard looked at ease with the whole affair. Tonks began to suspect he was completely aware of Dumbledore's wild idea, but she was just as mystified that her great uncle, who had been dead for most of her previous existence, was nonchalantly strolling at her side in Boston with Albus Dumbledore. The whole scene felt rather ridiculous to Tonks, but, she mused, she had traveled back in time and seen herself as a newborn, so what else could make it any stranger?
After ten minutes of walking, Dumbledore led Tonks and Alphard to a pleasant-looking row home in a posh neighborhood. It was a Muggle (No-Maj, if we're in America, thought Tonks) neighborhood, but Tonks could sense the wards around this home, indicating the presence of a magical family within the home.
The front garden was happily overgrown and fairies flitted around the colorful plants. Tonks observed many magical plants thriving in the small garden. The home must have been charmed with Notice-Me-Not charms to keep away the No-Maj population in the neighborhood.
Dumbledore led Alphard and Tonks up the steps to the row home and knocked on the door. A few moments later, a tall gentleman answered the door and Tonks felt winded again with shock. None other than Newt Scamander was standing a mere meter in front of her. Newt. Scamander. Her childhood hero.
"Albus, lovely to see you again," Newt greeted. "So happy to be of service for the Order."
"You're a part of the Order too?!" Tonks blabbered. "This might be the greatest day of my life."
Newt, Dumbledore, and Alphard all chuckled, as Newt beckoned for the three of them to enter his home. Newt's home, while pleasant and charming on the outside, was a veritable zoo on the inside. Cages upon cages of exotic magical animals covered the walls. Squawks, screeches, hoots, and barks were heard everywhere. Tonks had never been more pleased to be in a home.
Newt led them into a nearly creature-free sitting room. Two nifflers were crawling excitedly towards the trio.
"Please don't mind the nifflers," Newt explained. "Though I suggest putting your valuables away before they do," he chortled. "Mopsy!" he called.
A wrinkled but beaming house elf appeared before Newt, bowing to him.
"Master Newt calls for Mopsy?" the elf asked.
"Mopsy, would you be so kind as to fix us tea?" Newt asked. Mopsy nodded happily and within moments returned with a tray for tea service.
"Thank you, Mopsy," Newt said. "Be sure to help yourself to these scones as well." He smiled kindly at the abashed elf, and she popped away with a smile. Tonks was amused by the whole exchange, having never seen a wizard treat a house elf with such kindness.
"House elves are quite remarkable," Newt said. "Mopsy is a free elf and insists on calling me Master," he explained. "Their magic is far more than wizards give them credit for." Tonks beamed at Newt's explanation; it was evident that he was a compassionate man, given how he treated the elf.
Newt sat down in an armchair and motioned for Tonks, Alphard, and Dumbledore to do the same with the armchairs in the sitting room. Tonks sat at the very edge of her seat, unbearably eager to be in Newt Scamander's home. She set her rucksack down at her feet, and Newt looked at the Hufflepuff crest.
"I heard you were a fellow Hufflepuff," Newt commented. "It's really a pleasure to have another one here."
"The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Scamander," Tonks gushed. "You're probably the reason I was sorted into Hufflepuff. I was obsessed with your work before I started at Hogwarts." Tonks felt she was blabbering and likely embarrassing herself, but being in the same room as one of her childhood heroes definitely felt like the right location for appearing like a blubbering idiot.
"Please, call me Newt, Miss…?" Newt wondered.
"Black," Alphard interjected. "She'll be going by Miss Black going forward."
"What?!" Tonks yelped. "Is this why you had me look like this?" Tonks turned towards Dumbledore.
"We will get to that soon, Miss Black," assured Dumbledore. He looked at Alphard and asked, "Do you think she will be able to manage as a Black?"
"Certainly, Albus," Alphard replied. "She's got the proper temper for a Black and her morph is perfect. She shall require lessons in manners, but I'm confident we can rectify that before next fall."
"Morph?" asked Newt; at the same time Tonks yelped, "Next fall?!"
"Miss Black, can you demonstrate to Newt what gift you have?" Dumbledore asked. Tonks glared at him, but was eager to prove her morphing to Newt.
Tonks changed her hair colors to every color she could think of. She made her nose into a bill to match the nifflers' noses, scrunched it up to look like a pig's, changed her eye color, and pulled out the funnier faces and tricks she'd learned over the years. She finally returned to her "Black" morph and Newt's awed expression made her beam with pride.
"You're a Metamorphmagus?" Newt asked, a wide grin now growing on his face.
"I am!" Tonks cheerfully replied. "You sent my parents a letter about Metamorphmagi when I was a baby, and I learned a lot from it."
"I did?" Newt wondered. Something clicked in Tonks' mind; the letter was probably sent because she had already been in the past; did that mean she couldn't save Harry's parents? Or Sirius from his imprisonment? Or Remus, from his loneliness?
"We may be able to change those things, Miss Black," Dumbledore interjected. "Your comment at St. Mungo's led me to Newt to join us, albeit indirectly, in this mission."
Tonks turned back to Newt. "Yes, Newt," she explained. "Sometime when I was a baby, you sent my parents a letter about what Metamorphmagi could and couldn't do, and you even sent a signed copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them for me. It was one of my most prized possessions growing up." Tonks grinned widely at him.
"Looks like I've got some writing to do, then," Newt smiled. Tonks felt her heart soar. She had been the catalyst for the letter; did that mean the rest of her childhood had been set in motion by her time-traveling counterpart?
"As touching as this moment may be, Albus, shall we proceed with informing Miss Black of her new role?" Alphard inquired.
"Of course, Alphard, of course," Albus replied. "Miss Black, I've given a great deal of thought to your mission. Seeing as you can morph and much of the suffering you wish to rectify has to do with students currently at Hogwarts, I propose you join us next fall as a first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
Tonks closed her eyes and shook her head. She was going back to Hogwarts?
"Professor, I can morph to look like an 11 year old, but I'm not sure how that helps us," Tonks confessed. "Wouldn't I be more useful spying on current Death Eaters?"
"You will be spying on current Death Eaters, or rather, those who will grow up to become Death Eaters in your time," Dumbledore explained. "You will be far less suspicious as a curious Hogwarts student than as a seasoned Auror."
"How am I supposed to support myself?" Tonks asked. "Students generally don't hold jobs, and I can't imagine anyone will just take me in."
"No, not just anyone will take you in, Miss Black," Dumbledore said, blue eyes twinkling. "Your Uncle will."
"Uncle Al?" Tonks asked, looking at her great uncle. "How are you going to explain that to the rest of the family? In my original timeline, I'm a newborn, and my mum was blasted off the family tree. It's not like Walburga is going to be singing my praises the moment I walk into the family."
"You've met my sister?" Alphard asked.
"Not really. She had a portrait hanging at Grimmauld Place. She might have been the worst portrait I've ever gotten to know," Tonks said, hollowly, remembering the obscenities Walburga's portrait would screech at the new inhabitants of the future Order's headquarters.
"You'll be presented as Alphard's long-lost daughter," Dumbledore said. "With Newt's help," he added, nodding in Newt's direction.
"Newt and his wife, Tina, were unfortunate enough to lose their daughter last year to a magical accident," Dumbledore explained. "She had not been married, nor had she had children. Her name was Rosemary."
"We are offering to present you as Rosemary's daughter," Newt interjected. "Even though my wife Tina is a half-blood, my being a pureblood and my relative notoriety, should be enough for you to pass as a pureblood, respected daughter of Rosemary Scamander and Alphard Black."
Tonks was flabbergasted. She was going to be presented as her great uncle's daughter and Newt Scamander's granddaughter. If it wasn't so serious, she might have burst into crazed laughter over the ridiculousness of the proposition.
"Why would I be going to Hogwarts if I was Rosemary's daughter?" Tonks asked, genuinely curious.
"Rosemary, her brother, and Tina all studied at Ilvermorny," Newt replied. "But with the revelation that Alphard Black is your father, it will explain your presence at Hogwarts. We hope that your "connection" to the Scamanders will help you should you be sorted into Hufflepuff, as your uncle and Albus notified me that your cousin would be punished for being the first Black to be sorted out of Slytherin."
All this was true. Dumbledore was a genius. Off his rocker, but a genius, Tonks thought.
"Rosemary's brother, Orson, travels frequently, but he sends his support for this plan," Newt continued. "Tina is at MACUSA sorting out the legal details of making you Rosemary and Alphard's daughter. She was an Auror too." Newt looked thoughtfully at Tonks.
"I-I-thank you, Newt," Tonks stammered. "I am forever grateful for your generosity in welcoming me into your family."
"It's our pleasure," Newt said. "Tina is so pleased to have a granddaughter to spoil." He smiled broadly at Tonks.
"You don't have to spoil me, Newt," insisted Tonks. "Getting to be your pretend granddaughter and getting to know you is a dream come true."
"You'll need a new name," Dumbledore interjected. "Tina is awaiting our owl to finish the registration process with MACUSA."
"Pandora," Tonks suggested. "Pandora Rosemary Black."
"You'll take Rosemary's name as your own?" Newt asked, eyes watering.
"If she'll be my mother in this timeline, I'll be glad to take her name," Tonks said, smiling. "Pandora should fit in enough with the Blacks, I think. It's close enough to mirror my given name, Nymphadora." Tonks rolled her eyes. "I guess I'll be going by Dora here too."
"Fitting enough for a Black," Alphard commented. "Just ridiculous enough." He rolled his eyes.
"Dora it is!" Newt exclaimed. He conjured four champagne flutes and summoned a bottle of champagne. He filled the glasses and toasted, "To my new granddaughter, Dora!"